Stars
by damn all good names are taken
Summary: My first fanfic. To briefly summarise: my story of how  and why  Shepard escaped the streets of Earth to join the Alliance military. Rated T for swearing.
1. Fight

**This is my first fanfic. Hell, I didn't even know such a thing existed until a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, after playing Mass Effect repeatedly I ended up forming a rough story in my head about the Earthborn background, as I always found it intriguing, so eventually I decided to actually write it. Unfortunately, I am utterly naive when it comes to gang culture so any advice / criticism about that (or anything else) is much appreciated.**

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The stars, barely visible through the permanent smog that hung over the overcrowded streets of Earth, glinted. They were always there. Sometimes within sight, sometimes seeming almost close enough to touch, but never quite close enough to grasp.

It was dark in the warehouse, 15th street, London, 2171. A grubby light flickered on and off.

A man, a man whose age dictated that he was very nearly a boy, but whose hard eyes and scarred face removed all traces of boyishness from his features, stood in the warehouse.

He spat at the feet of another man.

Again, this man was hardly a man by age, but was definitely so by appearance.

'Tenth Street Reds', the first man growled. 'You little fuckers get outta our district.'

'Or what?' retaliated the second man, backed up by jeers from the shadows behind him. He eyed the crates behind the first man. They were the reason he was here, the reason he was risking a full - scale gang war. Red sand. A lot of it.

'Or we show you alien fuckers what happens to people who screw with us.' This was also enforced by jeers from the first man's gang.

'Alien fuckers? Go to hell, you bastard!' This came from a woman, also only just a woman, standing closely behind the second man. Her angry reprisal echoed around the grimy space, it's obvious arrogance making John, watching from the shadows, wince. _Dammit, not now, _he thought. He knew violence was inevitable, he knew that was why they were here, but adding insult to injury when it came to Boxer, boss of the Warehouse Fighters, was not smart.

The first man, Boxer, on seeing her, leered. 'And what are you here for, princess? The Reds so desperate they're taking their whores to fights?'

'Did you hear what he called me?' The woman said, turning to the second man. Then, turning the full force of her impetuous rage back to the first man, 'I will _show _him! I will fucking _show him!_'

'I'm sure you will, princess. But can it wait 'til after? I'm busy right now.'

_Oh shit._

John scarcely had time to duck behind a red sand - filled crate before a wave of blue light exploded from the woman. The blast had been aimed at Boxer, but without an amp the energy was completely directionless. It knocked those who hadn't seen what was coming clean off their feet.

The woman marched towards the dazed first man, running on sheer adrenaline. After a shockwave like that she knew her body was completely drained of energy, she knew she would pass out soon. She didn't care.

With a strength that surprised even herself, she grabbed the man, still lying on the floor, and hoisted him up so his eyes were level with hers.

She saw black spots swimming in her vision, she felt her ears numb and her knees weaken. She knew she only had a few seconds.

With venom in her voice and fire in her barely - conscious eyes, she hissed into the man's ear -

'Don't call me princess.'

The world went black.

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**I know this first chapter is very short but I'll try to write them longer - like I said, first fanfic. And I know I haven't made Shepard's identity apparent yet - it's intentional.  
Oh, and please review if you have the time - I'd really like to find out what what people think.**


	2. Talk

**Second chapter finished! This time it's over twice as long as the first chapter (I did try).**

**Oh, and I forgot to mention that I know there probably is currently no Tenth Street in London (whereas there is in LA and NY), and Shepard's accent would imply he / she is American / Canadian, but being British I couldn't resist setting this in London.**

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Darkness.

_A fist raised in anger, in fear, smashes into her young face. Her nose cracks, blood pours. It almost knocks her out. She screams._

_She hears words, shouts, broken through her pain and the imperfect recollection of memory -_

'_- damn biotic! - fucking mind-reader! - not in my house! - get that fucking _thing_ out of my house!'_

John watched as her eyes flickered beneath unconscious eyelids. He wondered what she was dreaming of.

They were sitting in a shadowy alley, near the warehouse. He could still hear the muffled sounds of the fight this woman had started; yells and crashes, the occasional scream. As he leaned his head back against the grubby brick wall, he mused whether they would notice he was gone. He could see the stars, glimmering faintly above him through the years of pollution. They never ceased to amaze him. He imagined each one, each a centre of a massive solar system, each surrounded by planets like Earth yet so not like Earth, each teeming with life like humanity yet so not like humanity…

She woke up. Where was she? Last thing she remembered… crap. Had they left her? Had they taken her after she passed out?

She leapt up. Felt cool air on her face. Outside. An alley. Had they dragged her outside to rape her? Hell, she may still only be half conscious but she could still fight…

She whirled around. No-one. Had they done it already and left? No, she felt no pain from anywhere but her head -

Then she saw him, sitting on the ground, back to the wall, watching her with an expression of vague amusement and slight caution. She recognised him as a Red, and relaxed slightly. But only slightly.

'What the fuck am I doing here?' She snapped.

'I figured you'd probably get yourself killed, lying there unconscious,' he said, nodding to the warehouse across the street. Oh. Now she understood. The Reds looked out for their own. Well, usually. They looked out for the respected members, at least.

And her biotics made damn sure she was respected.

'So, what, you just dragged me out here as a random act of kindness?' She asked, always sceptical, always suspicious.

'Yep' he said, shifting his blue - eyed gaze from her to something above him.

She frowned, crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. Her head still hurt like hell, and the reek of the nearby bins wasn't helping. A siren wailed somewhere far in the distance, the sounds of the fight were dying down. Other than that, the narrow alley was silent. It made her uncomfortable.

'What's your name?'

'John.'

'Jenny.'

He looked at her. 'Jenny what?'

'Don't know' she lied, not meeting his gaze. She knew all too well her last name, but she'd be damned if she'd use the name of those… bastards who had once been her family.

'What about you?'

'Don't know either, but…' he trailed off, shaking his head.

'But what?' She asked, curious. He didn't reply, instead turned his gaze back to whatever he found so interesting above him. She tried to see what he saw, but saw nothing.

'What the fuck are you staring at?' She asked, irritated.

'Just…' he trailed off again.

'God, can't you finish a fucking sentence?'

He looked back at her, realizing that her irritated persistence meant he couldn't dodge her questions.

'I was just looking at the stars,' he said, as if he was admitting to some embarrassing thought.

She looked up at the faint, pale specks in the dark, dirty sky.

'What? Why?'

He sighed. He didn't want to spill his innermost thoughts to this near-stranger, but then he definitely didn't want to end up thrown against a bin by some biotic attack.

'They're like...' he paused, trying to find words to express his thoughts. However, he noted her rapidly growing impatience and plunged on. 'Like this world is just the start, like each and every one of those stars is surrounded by new worlds, with people and cultures and life. But it's like we're surrounded by all this, all this life, all this… hope, but we can't reach it. So I look at the stars because on some nights I like to kid myself that I could.'

She looked at him, remembering the announcement on the vids years ago stating that any member of any major gang was not permitted to enlist in the Alliance. Something about gang infiltration being 'a major problem which needed stamping out'. The Alliance, their only ticket to those stars.

But she didn't understand how he felt. These streets were her home, her turf, her life. She knew she wouldn't enlist even if she could, and she knew that everyone she knew felt the same as her.

But then an understanding grin began to spread across her face.

'Wait, you're high, ain't you?'

He sighed again. He was beginning to think that landing face down in a bin would have been the more preferable option.

Just then, they heard a noise. They could see by the light of a dim streetlamp a group of teens spilling out from the warehouse across the street. Some were limping, some were wincing as they felt for broken bones, but most were cheering about something unintelligible. Obviously, one gang had emerged victorious.

They watched, cautiously looking for faces they recognised, hoping this gang was theirs. Then, the eldest broke away from the group and marched towards them.

As they saw this man was Boss, their boss, the boss of the Tenth Street Reds, they were relieved that this was their gang which had won. But now they were more concerned that Boss had seen them missing the fight. They stood up hastily.

Ignoring John, Boss headed straight for Jenny. He pinned her against the wall, slamming her head back. Her headache, which had subdued slightly, savagely returned. The inner fire was almost visible through her dark eyes.

'What the fuck are you playing at, you goddamn bitch?' He yelled in her face, so close his heavily scarred features were a blur to her. John made a move as if to stop him, defend her, but thought better of it. He went to join the others in their celebrations.

'Dammit, you never, _never_ you hear me, make a move without my order! Fuck, you hurt us as much as them when you fucking lost it back there!'

She just glared back at him, the defiance clear in her face. It made him all the more furious. His voice distorted into a menacing hiss.

'You know, maybe you would be better as a whore. You're pretty enough,' he hissed in her ear, and his rough hand pinched her pale cheek. 'I thought you were different, kid, like you had potential, but now…I think you'd fetch a good price-'

'I could kill you with a _blink_,' she interrupted him, trying desperately to be equally threatening.

He sneered. 'You, bitch? You pass out just from knocking a couple of people on their ass.' Then suddenly he punched her in the stomach, hard, and let her slip down to the ground.

Standing over her scowling features, he said -

'You're nothing. Don't you ever forget who's in charge again, or next time I won't be so gentle.'

She watched him leave as the pain washed over her.

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**I hope you enjoyed. Or at least liked it. So, if you did (or didn't), please tell me what you think, and since I'm new to this site any advice is welcomed as well.**


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